Vale (NYSE:VALE) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $14.84 and last traded at $14.8450, with a volume of 12472391 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.61.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on VALE. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Vale from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on Vale from $14.50 to $15.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. HSBC boosted their target price on Vale from $12.25 to $13.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Vale from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 27th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Vale from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.21.

Vale Trading Up 2.2%

The stock has a market cap of $66.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.53. The business’s 50 day moving average is $13.07 and its 200 day moving average is $11.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Vale (NYSE:VALE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $10.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.39 billion. Vale had a return on equity of 18.60% and a net margin of 14.69%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Vale S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vale Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a special dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th were paid a dividend of $0.2331 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. Vale’s payout ratio is presently 43.08%.

Institutional Trading of Vale

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VALE. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Vale by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 56,457,332 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $613,086,000 after buying an additional 6,643,125 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Vale by 4.3% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 46,215,387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $501,715,000 after acquiring an additional 1,910,266 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Vale by 16.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 28,961,848 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $314,526,000 after acquiring an additional 4,151,563 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Vale by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 22,272,507 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $241,879,000 after purchasing an additional 2,192,285 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vale by 31.8% in the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 21,705,260 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $210,758,000 after acquiring an additional 5,234,201 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 21.85% of the company’s stock.

About Vale

Vale SA is a Brazilian multinational mining company and one of the world’s largest producers of iron ore and iron ore pellets. In addition to iron ore, the company produces and sells a range of bulk commodities and metals, including nickel, copper, coal, manganese, ferroalloys and cobalt, and it participates in the fertilizer inputs market. Vale also operates extensive logistics assets — including rail, port and maritime logistics — that support its mining and export activities and provide services to third parties in some regions.

Headquartered in Brazil, Vale maintains a global operational footprint with mining, processing and shipping activities across the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.